Support Jessie's Journey to Recovery

Jessie Perkins is a 54-year-old gentleman who worked difficult 16-hour shifts as an armed guard. His life was changed in an abrupt way when he began having left-sided weakness that prompted him to visit an emergency room where they diagnosed his symptoms and told him he had a 'quad strain' with orders to discharge home. The next day his weakness became worse, he was falling, and eventually he could not get out of bed which prompted him to go to  Alameda Hospital Emergency Department. Jessie’s MRI of his head that was completed at Alameda showed an acute right paramedian pontine infarct, more commonly known an ischemic stroke. Jessie found himself with minimal abilities to move his left leg, no movement in his left arm, and left-sided facial droop. As anyone can imagine, this was a huge shock to Jessie and as well as his partner, Pisila. A thousand thoughts raced across his mind: “Will I be able to walk again?”, “Will I be able to move my arm again?”, “Will I be able to take care of myself and work again?”. While he began to participate in intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy, the recommendations for an acute rehab unit were discussed and Jessie was 100% on board to do three hours of therapy a day and do all he can to improve his outcomes. Turns out, Jessie did not have insurance and his income was too high to qualify for Medi-Cal insurance. The case managers, social workers, therapy team and doctors then had the plan to try for a Charity Care program that financially assists the uninsured/underinsured. While Jessie was grappling with his symptoms and the possibility that he may never return to his previous level of functioning, he started to look into insurance options. Jessie was not familiar with US healthcare and insurance options but was scrambling to find coverage so he could receive all the therapy possible. He applied for an insurance that somehow only covers his primary care doctor visits; it does not cover skilled nursing facilities (SNF), acute rehab units (ARU), outpatient or home health therapy services. To summarize, it does not cover any kind of therapy services. He was back to square one and his interdisciplinary team was now just as frustrated. 

Jessie has a long road ahead with medical bills already piling up from his nine days of staying in the hospital. He needs continued physical & occupational therapy to continue to get stronger and as independent as possible. Again, his insurance does not cover this so he would have to pay for everything out-of-pocket. Jessie and his family are asking for any donations that can help him receive the services he needs to further his recovery from such a life-changing event. Let’s help Jessie navigate his new normal without him having to worry about crazy healthcare finances!